


Something Long Forgotten

by Komo_Pineconeseed, Makkoska



Series: Small Things [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ALL OF THE GENRES!, F/M, Family, M/M, Madara stays in Konoha AU, Not In Chronological Order, family life, lighter and softer, no seriously, part of Makkoska's Small Things Series, shouldn't I be able to link it somehow?, slice-of-life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 09:28:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3605046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komo_Pineconeseed/pseuds/Komo_Pineconeseed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makkoska/pseuds/Makkoska
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Glimpses of the rather dysfunctional life of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. A chain of short stories set in Makkoska's "It's the Small Things" Universe. [Madara-stays-in-Konoha!AU] [Hashirama/Madara] [Tobirama/Mito] [WIP]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Long Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> So... first time posting on AO3. I've edited some more, which you can tell if you compare it to the one I posted on FFN. Also, I can't seem to figure out how to link this story to it's parent work. Help?

Hashirama sat in his office, frowning as he listened.

Earlier that morning, scouts on a routine mission had found the corpses of a decimated Konoha team. There was evidence of a fierce battle with advance jutsu, but none of the surrounding damage corresponded with Team Delta's chakra natures. That initially suggested the team was ambushed by foreign ninja, but other evidence proved otherwise. There were bite marks over all of the bodies, but in addition to that, and most disturbingly enough, some of the bodies had been half eaten.

"Perhaps scavenging animals found the corpses after the battle?" Tobirama theorized.

The scouting team's medic disagreed. "That was initially our hypothesis as well, but when I examined the wounds and blood pooling patterns, the bites were definitely made while the shinobi were all still alive. I'm sure the bites were the cause of death for all of Team Delta."

But if so, why was there damage from unaccounted jutsu?

It was a gruesome and mysterious picture. So mysterious that Tobirama and a handful of other ninja left to investigate. Hashirama was worried for his brother's safety, but the only alternative was to send Madara, who had just returned from another mission.

His lover had stayed long enough to listen to the scouts give their report, watch Tobirama leave, and kiss Hashirama goodbye before returning home to rest. Hashirama, on the other hand, had a much more depressing task—he had to inform the families. It was always a heartbreaking experience to tell someone their loved one had died in the line of duty, but the worst was when he realized one of the members of Team Delta was a single mother. Going into her house and seeing the lost look of her young girl was too much.

It was then that he made a decision. A few months ago, his partner had agreed to start looking for orphans to adopt. Since the poor girl didn't have any extended family in the village, she would be an excellent candidate.

* * *

 

Seven-year-old Iwa Aina was rubbing her eyes with her sleeve to stop her tears from falling down into the small box she was carrying. Packed in a rather hurried fashion, it contained all of the family possessions she had chosen to bring to her new home.

It was just that morning that a group of ninja had told her that her mom had been killed during her mission, and she wasn't returning home.  It had been absolutely frightening. Aina had cried her heart out until her tears ran dry and her throat raw, but it didn't change anything. Her mom was gone. Her dad had also died on a mission a few years ago as had her uncle. As for the rest of her family, they somehow got separated even before the ninja clans decided to ally and form villages, and now she had no idea where they were. She didn't remember any of their faces anyway.

What was she going to do? She didn't know if the village had an orphanage since all of the orphaned children had relatives, but she was all alone. Was she expected to take of herself? Was she going to have to find a job and an apartment of some sort? Or would someone simply give her an apartment and an allowance?

That was all she could think about following her mom's death up. But then all of a sudden, Senju Hashirama-sama had arrived at her house and invited her to stay with him. She wasn't sure how long he meant when he said, "You can come live with us", but Aina agreed because she trusted him the most in the whole village.

He helped her pack as well. In a larger box, Aina selected half of her clothes. Hokage-sama carried that box. In a box small enough for a seven year old like her to carry, she chose to take her father's ashes, her mother's scented folding fan, a photo album, and a stuff animal. She clutched the box as if her life depended on it as she followed Hokage-sama to his home.

Surprisingly, Hokage-sama's house was only a little bit bigger than her family's. The young girl was expecting something much grander considering he was the leader of the village, and to be honest, she was a little disappointed. Still, the front yard was beautifully kept. Aina stared into a koi pond as Hokage-sama led them through the winding stone pathway.

He slid open the front door and gestured her to follow him.

"Madara," he called into the seemingly empty house, "I'm back, and I brought Aina with me."

Following that announcement, all the hairs on the nape of the girl's neck stood on edge.

Like a wraith, Uchiha Madara-san drifted into the foyer. As usual, his hair hid half of his face, but his left eye was heavily lidded and dispassionate.

"I can see that." The black-haired man's gaze trailed down, and he scanned the child in front of him. Aina gulped. While her mother had heaps of praises for the leader of the village, she was completely silent on said leader's partner.

To her surprise, Hokage-sama met Madara-san's scrutiny with a wide smile, and his eyes lit up with a strange expectation. The Uchiha snorted before walking away, but instead of following him as she expected, Hokage-sama turned towards her.

"That was my lover, Uchiha Madara."

The seven-year-old nodded. She knew of him.

"Why don't I show you to your new room?"

She nodded again. Hokage-sama took this as his cue to lead her upstairs. The staircase was a bit creaky as the two of them made their way up and into a narrow hallway. Like the rest of the house, the hall was covered in all hardwood floors, and at the end of the hall was an octagonal window covered in paper. In front of the window sat a small table with a flower arrangement. A gentle breeze was blowing through the paper, giving the whole hallway a faint scent of irises.

Hokage-sama walked down the hallway, pointing to a sliding door on the left. "This is the bedroom Madara and I share." He then pointed to a door on the right before pulling the door open. "And here's your new room."

While there were tatami mats, to Aina's surprise, there were also an actual bed, a table, a dresser, and from the looks of things, a closet. All the furniture was a nice neutral tan color, giving it a pleasant contrast to the off-white walls. There was a window with pale green curtains. She gazed outside. The sun was setting, and lights from the residential district flickered as the sky darkened. Against the splash of oranges and purples in the sky, the cliff side carved with Hokage-sama's face glowed.

"I'm sorry that the decoration is a little bland. I wanted to spruce up the place before anybody moved in, but Madara wouldn't let me."

Aina nodded. Hokage-sama gave a sad smile as he set his box down.

"Dinner will start in half an hour. Why don't you unpack and get settled in?"

The young girl stared at the box she was still clutching. She wouldn't need that long to unpack four items and some clothes.

* * *

 

A half hour later, Aina found herself seated at a table with a smiling Hokage-sama and a disgruntled Madara-san. A cook had arrived earlier to deliver their evening meal. Normally the smell of a Gyudon beef bowl would send the young girl drooling, but today, her appetite was all but gone.

She picked at her food silently, slowly mashing everything together. Hokage-sama either didn't seem to notice or care. He asked her many questions ranging from her hobbies and birthday to the status of her extended family. Aina replied in a quiet voice and only gave enough information to answer his questions. Hokage-sama didn't seem to mind and kept smiling.

The child glanced over to the other man sitting at the table. Madara-san kept his eyes on his food. His portion was considerably smaller than hers or Hokage-sama's, and he took small bites and chewed slowly. The only sound he made was when he swallowed. The girl paid closer attention to him. Whenever she saw him in the village, she found him incredibly cold, and her first meeting didn't change her impression. But the feeling she was getting now—how should she put it?—he seemed more awkward than cold. Not the clumsy sort of awkwardness you would expect from someone her age, but a distant type from a person who had no idea how to act and was too prideful to admit it.

Maybe Madara-san wasn't as bad as some of the rumors made him out to be?

It was then Aina realized that Hokage-sama had stopped asking questions and was just watching her watch his lover. When Aina caught his eyes, he smile grew wider. She had no idea what that meant either. She hoped she didn't offend either one of them. She sat up straighter. Time passed.

"I understand you're not very hungry," Hokage-sama broke the silence, "but you'll feel even worse if you don't eat anything. At least finish the beef and egg."

She picked up two pieces of beef and shoved them into her mouth. It was absolutely flavorless, and the longer the girl chewed, the more the meat tasted like ash. She swallowed anyway. Her stomachache mildly subsided, so she ate more food and chewed rather mechanically, and eventually, finished per her instructions.

Hokage-sama and Madara-san had long since put down their chopsticks, but neither of them had gotten up. While Aina was not surprised to note that Hokage-sama was still watching her, realizing she had Madara-san's attention startled her. The expression on his face was unreadable, but she liked to think she saw some flicker of emotion in his eyes. He broke eye contact, got up from the table, and left the room.

"Would you like to take a bath before bed?"

She nodded and followed Hokage-sama as he led her to the bathroom. It was a rather small one on the first floor, and she waited as he heated up the bathwater.

"I'll get some clothes for you. Towels are over there." He pointed to a stack of rolled towels on a small wooden stand before leaving the bathroom. Aina undressed and showered, scrubbing herself quickly, before she crawled into the bath. It was the largest furo she had ever seen, but she still sat in a corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. The familiar position—the only way she could squish into the bathtub at home—soothed her slightly. It was then that it finally dawned on her.

Her mom had died.

It was different from her grief earlier in the day. That pain was born from her loneliness and anxiety. This was just sorrow.

The girl sat in the bathtub with tears constantly running down her face until the water grew cold.

* * *

 

"She's very quiet. I was expecting a high pitched chatterbox."

Hashirama glanced over at Madara. He had changed out of his day clothes and was lounging on the bed wearing only cotton pants. The Senju's gaze turned appreciative as his eyes trailed over the well-toned shoulders, pecs, and abdomen. It was too bad Madara was focused on reading a scroll and not paying any attention to him. He sat down next to his partner and reached over to caress his hair. Madara's facial expression didn't change, but Hashirama could tell from the crinkle around his eyes that he was content. He leaned down to kiss him. Madara returned it.  The kiss was slow and leisurely.

Hashirama was thrilled at this display of intimacy. He knew Madara wasn't very happy with his choice regarding their new daughter. The Uchiha had not only wanted to adopt a talented ninja, but a son at that, but everything changed when Hashirama had received news that Team Delta had been completely annihilated. Hence why Hashirama was so pleased with the way he was kissing him. Just when he decided to take this to the next level, however, Madara broke the kiss. Hashirama looked at him with a rather confused look.

"Hasn't that child been in the bath for a questionably long time? Shouldn't you, as her father, check up on her to make sure she hasn't drowned?"

The taller man's frown told Madara that he didn't appreciate the joke. "She's your daughter now too, Madara."

The Uchiha snorted before returning his attention on his scroll while his lover took the hint and left to grab some clothes and check up on the girl. He paid little attention to the contents of his scroll—regarding the concepts of Gedou and Tirthika, specifically—as most of his attention was on the noises coming from down the hall. The sounds of water rushing through the plumbing, of shifting fabric crinkling, of feet scraping on the floor, and of the screen doors opening and shutting all told him his lover was tucking the child in for the night. A few heartbeats later, Hashirama returned to their bedroom. Madara pretended that his attention was on his reading the whole entire time. He was mostly sure he fooled his partner.

Not that any of that mattered since Hashirama's entire attention shifted into initiating sex. He mounted Madara almost immediately and started sucking at the crook of his neck. His hands slid down to caress his sides, and this put the Uchiha in a dilemma. It was true he had just returned from a month long mission earlier that morning and had no chance to relieve his desires the entire time. He desperately wanted to be penetrated among other things, but he was also simmering with anger with how little input he had in choosing his first child, and an ugly desire to punish Hashirama was bursting forth. With his remaining strength, he pushed the taller man off of him. His Senju had such a surprised look that Madara was almost amused. To disguise that, he flipped over to lay on his other side and tried to read his scroll. He could feel Hashirama's desperation radiating from his body, and he could feel his erection pressed against his lower back as he tried to regain his lover's attention.

When Hashirama pressed his nose into his hair to sniff him, Madara decided that they were going to have sex that night, but he was going to make Hashirama work really hard for it. He forced his eyes to focus on the theory on how to summon the Gedou Mazou in an attempt to hold out for as long as possible.

* * *

 

Even though Hokage-sama instructed her to go to sleep more than an hour ago, Aina laid in her bed wide awake with her stuffed animal clutched to her chest. She didn't feel grief—just emptiness. A void seemed to have sucked away all of her emotions, leaving her simultaneously restless and lethargic. She sat up in her bed for what felt like the twentieth time with all the intention to pace or use the bathroom _or something_ , but every single time she moved her covers to the side, she could see Madara-san glaring at her in her mind's eye. She laid back down every time.

She just couldn't go to sleep. The sheets smelled wrong, the air was too warm, the bed was too soft, and there was something wrong with the atmosphere of the house. Or maybe it was just her mood. She was so emotionally tired, but she couldn't sleep.

It was then that she first heard it. At first, she thought there was something wrong with her ears, but then it happened again. A low, strange groan seemed to be emanating from the hallway. It sounded human-like, but she had never heard anybody groan like that. In fact, it almost sounded like someone was in pain with how low pitched it was, but that wasn't quite right either.

The groaning stopped, and that was when it dawned on the girl how still the house was. Aina crawled out of bed as silently as she could, trying not to disturb either Hokage-sama or Madara-san who were probably both asleep by now. She especially didn't want to wake up Madara-san. He wouldn't take too kindly to that, Aina thought as she sneaked her way over to the door.

If she tried opening it, it would surely make a sound. Instead, she pressed her ear against it. All she heard was the low rustling of some sort of noise. Aina shifted so that her ear was pressed against the crack between the door and doorframe. The girl could feel a chill on her cheek from the hallway's coldness. There was also the unmistakable sound of wooden boards creaking and wind blowing.

The sound of the wind was low and constant, and it was a sharp juxtaposition against the intermittent creaking noises of the floorboards. The girl peaked through the crack her ear had been resting on. The hallway was enveloped in pure darkness except for a small section illuminated by dim moonlight. Something was casting a long shadow in that faint light. Aina stared at the irregularly shaped shadow, trying to figure out what it was when, all of a sudden, the moaning started again, and the shadow moved! Aina gasped as she stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. She quickly shot under her covers as fast as she could and clutched her stuff animal to her chest, shaking.

Oh dear goodness. The house was haunted.

The girl didn't sleep at all that night. Instead, she shifted so that she laid in bed, still as a board, staring at the ceiling.

* * *

 

Madara was in the dining room, removing small containers from the bucket the cook brought over. There was a small bamboo container of rice porridge that Madara portioned out into two bowls. Then he realized that there was another person living in the house. Before pulling out a third bowl and reportioning, however, Madara decided to give the second bowl to the girl. Hashirama was a grown man who could fend for himself, after all.

Also in the bucket was miso soup with thinly sliced mushrooms. Madara did not particularly like miso soup with anything except green onions, seaweed and tofu, but Hashirama really enjoyed the mushrooms, so their cook made them soup like that every morning. The salty scent wafted into the air after he opened the container. It had become lukewarm during the trip, however, so Madara turned on the stove to reheat it. While he was waiting, he portioned out the omelet, the grilled fish, and the pickled plums. The kettle he put on the stove earlier started whistling, so he made himself a cup of tea.

By the time he was done setting the table, Hashirama and the girl had both arrived. The air around them was strikingly different. His lover gave off the same vibe he always did the morning after Madara returned from a mission: lazy and completely sated. The girl, on the other hand, appeared even worse than she did the night before. She seemed jittery, depressed, and about to hyperventilate at the drop of a hat. The Uchiha was impressed. This large and concurrent emotional range was something he normally only saw within members of his own clan.

Madara sat down and started drinking the porridge. Behind him, he could hear the miso soup had fully heated up, and he gave Hashirama a slight nod towards the range. His lover understood him and got up to pour soup for everyone.

Breakfast was silent before, predictably, Hashirama broke it.

"Aina, there will be a funeral in few days for your mother's team."

The girl nodded. Madara narrowed his eyes at her. That was all she seemed capable of doing. The Uchiha didn't know much about females given how little he interacted with them, but even he was certain this was not normal behavior.

"I'm sure you want to be there," Hashirama continued, "and afterwards, there's something I want to talk to you about."

She nodded again. Madara took a sip of his tea. If she were a boy, he would have simply chalked it up to depression, but didn't girls simper and cry when tragedy struck? What was wrong with this child?

The rest of breakfast continued with Hashirama talking, but this time his attention was directed at Madara. It was all trivial bureaucracy, something with all honesty Madara was surprised his lover was even focusing on. He tended to shove these matters to Tobirama. Still, Hashirama wanted his honest opinion on some small re-structuring of teams.  “To distribute certain types of abilities more equally.” Madara honestly didn't care as long as Hashirama didn't group any idiots with him. He'd hate it if anyone were to die under his watch.

Soon, the time arrived for Hashirama to go his office to start his paperwork. Before he left, he leaned forward to give his lover a goodbye kiss which was returned. Out of the corner of his eye, Madara noted the girl's reaction. Or rather, her lack of one, as expected. She kept staring at her untouched food.

After he broke the kiss, Hashirama walked over to her and gave her hair a ruffle. The corners of her lips twitched, almost as if she wanted to smile but had forgotten how. Still, she redirected her attention to Hashirama who smiled at her before leaving.

It was just Madara and the girl in the house, and damn if Madara had any idea what to do. His original intention was to go over to the clan compound and sort out any disagreements—there was always petty disputes—before going to the training grounds, but it seemed wrong to leave a child with such a blunted affect in the house by herself. There was only one solution.

"Come." The girl seemed surprised that he was speaking to her. "We're going to the Uchiha compound."

She nodded and got up from her chair. They left the house together.

It was a bizarre experience for Madara. He usually walked either by himself or next to Hashriama. If it was the former, people tended to unconsciously make way for him, and if it was the latter, people would drift towards Hashirama to start a conversation. Either way, people ignored him. With the girl in tow, people were still cautious around him, but he had a lot more stares given how closely she trailed behind him.

The Uchiha kept his head up as he strode through the streets. People always had an unsavory habit of gossiping about others, and it was only a matter of time before this girl's adoption reached the ears of the public. Hopefully, this would quell any opinions about whether or not Hashirama should father a child.

Madara looked behind him. Aina was straggling. He waved her closer, "Walk by my side. I can't stand it when people are behind me." She jogged forward so she was only a hand width behind him.

That was good enough, Madara supposed.

* * *

 

Given the number of people that had died, the funeral was rather short, but not scandalously so. Several members of his own clan had dug the graves and lowered the caskets into the damp, cold soil. Hashirama did not shed any tears, but his eyebrows were pinched in a way that belied his deep sadness. His lover was standing next to him with a far more neutral expression and in between them was their new daughter crying silently. Everybody was dressed in a matte black, and Aina had laid white roses on her mother's grave. As Hokage, Hashirama went to each individual family to give his condolences. After each family member had a moment to say goodbye to their loved one, Hashirama carved the names of Team Delta onto the memorial stone.

The funeral was over, and their little family returned home.

Before dinner, Hashirama brought up a matter he had wanted to speak about for a long time.

"Aina, you've been staying here with Madara and myself for a week now. How do you like it?"

The young girl blinked at him. "I really like it here, Hokage-sama! But, um," she bit her lip, looking particularly nervous before she whispered, "are you going to kick me out?"

"Oh no," Hashirama was surprised, "nothing like that. I was hoping, or rather, Madara and I were hoping you might be willing to stay here permanently." Noticing Aina's confusion, he added, "We want to adopt you. Once we do, the three of us will be a family, and we'll be your fathers."

Hashirama's heart melted when he saw the girl beaming.

"Yes!"

* * *

 

They celebrated that night by going to eat Korean-style barbeque. Madara felt uneasy about having a celebration so closely following a funeral, but Hashirama and their new daughter seemed fired up about it, and he didn't want to ruin their fun.

The restaurant was jam-packed with people, but the owners were still able to find a spot for the three in a corner. It was a somewhat dark as neither of the two light fixtures were fully able to shine in their little crevice, but nobody in their party seemed to mind. A young civilian waitress soon arrived to take their order. Hashirama ordered three sets of pork belly meat, Aina really wanted to try some of their special house sausage, and Madara just ordered a bottle of sake for himself and his lover as well as a bottle of cola for the girl.

After the waitress left, Hashirama and Aina started talking about Tobirama's newly opened ninja academy. Specifically, the girl was arguing that she wanted to enroll, but Hashirama seemed convinced she was too young.

"We need to enroll her," Madara interjected when he realized the argument was spinning around in circles. "Given our schedules, there's no way we could teach her all the ninja arts ourselves."

Hashirama frowned at that. "Yes, but she's only seven. She's so young. There's plenty of time in the future for her to learn."

"We're not shoving a katana into her hands and ordering her to assassinate the Mizukage," although Madara's lips twitched at the mental image, "but she's going to be a ninja. We're ninja. She needs to learn how to defend herself at least."

"We'll be there to protect her."

Madara narrowed his eyes. Both he and his lover knew damn well he couldn't counter that sensitively so soon after Aina's mother's death, so he changed tactics. "But she will enter the battlefield one day. She needs to start now so she doesn't fall behind."

Aina nodded at Madara's pronouncement. "Daddy, I really, really, really want to go." The two of them looked at Hashirama expectedly. He sighed and gave into his family's wishes. Aina cheered while Madara smirked.

The waitress returned, wheeling a cart. Using tongs, she placed a shallow bowl of hot charcoal in the brazier. On top of the grill, she placed a small iron pot of what turned out to be egg flower soup—"It's on the house, Hokage-sama"—before placing raw pork slices and sausages onto the brazier. The three of them also got lettuce, sesame leaves, rice, garlic, kimchi, spicy bean paste, and thin hot peppers. Finally a bottle of sake, two shot glasses, and a bottle of cola were placed on the table.

Hashirama handed a pair of tongs to Aina and taught her the art of flipping meat without burning it. Madara felt incredibly relaxed and smiled at them. He proceeded to pour his lover and then himself sake shots. Hashirama downed his in one gulp, but Madara sipped at his slowly.

After the meat was grilled to a beautiful golden brown, Hashirama cut them into strips before serving them to his family. Madara just dip his slice in salt before eating it, but Hashirama showed Aina how to wrap hers up in a sesame leaf with rice, garlic, and kimchi. The girl made a face when she bit into the leaf, but Hashirama told her that the bitterness of the leaf was supposed to contrast nicely against the savory meat and sour kimchi. She didn't appear to buy it.

Dinner continued in such a pleasant manner. Unlike her fathers who seemed to be getting calmer with every shot of sake they drank, Aina became more chipper from her soda pop. She drank all the soup by herself, gorged herself on half of the sausage, and ate her set of the pork belly all the while talking about how great it would be learn how to throw shuriken. This childish excitement culminated in her challenging Hashirama to a pepper eating contest.

"Whoever finishes their pepper first wins!" Aina exclaimed with a maniacal grin.

Hashirama smirked. "You're on. I bet I can finish mine twice as fast as you!"

"No, you can't!"

They both dipped their peppers in bean paste and took a bite. That was about as long as they lasted before they spat out their mouthfuls due to the sheer heat and reached for their drinks. Aina's soda made the girl squirm when she drank it, but all she let out was a high pitched whine. Hashirama, unfortunately, took a shot of sake which just sent him into a coughing fit. Upon seeing their expressions, Madara broke out into a laughter so loud that patrons seated at nearby tables turned to look their way. A Sharingan-enhanced glare sent them back to their own business.

The Uchiha sighed as his lover's coughing subsided. He causally leaned over to the side dish tray, grabbed his own pepper, dipped it in paste, and started to leisurely eat it as if it were just a carrot.

Aina gaped at him. "Madara-san, doesn't your tongue feel like it's going to burn off?"

Her other father smirked. "This heat is nothing compared to a Great Fire Annihilation jutsu."

Her admiration radiated from her wide-eyed expression.

* * *

 

After they finished their food, Hashirama and Madara set a moderate pace on the walk back home. Aina frequently ran ahead and then waited for them to catch up.

Hashirama was over the moon with how happy his family was. He was really worried about his daughter the past week. Her lack of appetite and grief were to be expected, of course, but that didn't ease his concern, so he was really relieved to see her bounce back so quickly. He was also thrilled to see how quickly Madara accepted Aina into their lives, and how happy and open his lover had been that evening. Madara's smiles made Hashirama's heart flutter. All of this just reinforced his belief that they would make wonderful parents. Still, just to make sure…

"Aina, you are okay, right?"

She looked rather surprised at his question. "Yes," her response was quick, "I mean, I am still sad Mom died, but I'm really happy with living with you and Madara-san!"

Hashirama felt like his cheeks were about to fall off from smiling so hard. "I'm glad to hear that. If there's anything you need us for, just ask."

"Okay! Really, all I want is to enroll at the Academy and maybe make some friends. Not that I'm not really happy with you and Madara-san or that I'm lonely or anything," she backpedalled quickly, "but I just want some friends my age to talk to."

"That's understandable. All right then, darling, I'll draw up the papers tomorrow."

They arrived at the house, and paused in the entranceway to take off their sandals.

"Thanks, Daddy! Really, I am happy here. I love you and Madara-san! I love this house. I even love the ghost that wanders the hallway at night!"

Hashirama and Madara just stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Ghost? What are you talking about, dear?"

Aina blinked. "Oh, you know, the ghost in the hallway outside our bedrooms. Okay, I never really saw it directly, only heard it." She frowned when she saw their incomprehension. "Surely you must have heard it! It's so loud, and it groans and moans every single night after we go to bed! Like this." With that, she sucked in her chest like she was going to belch before making a moan as low as a seven-year-old girl physically could. There was something about the way she pitched it that was eerily familiar…

Madara connected the dots faster than Hashirama and turned even paler than normal. Hashirama tilted his head in confusion before sucking in a breath when he realized what his daughter was referring to.

"A-ah!" Hashirama started stuttering in disbelief. He was not at all ready for this conversation. "Yes! That noise. Erhm." He coughed for a moment before continuing. "So, that noise you were hearing… ah, it was just us and we were just…" He looked wildly in Madara's direction for guidance, but his lover was still slack-jawed. "You know that Daddy and Madara-san love each other very much, and we show it by, uh… so…"

At that point, Madara's brain had enough time to restart, and he interrupted with a low hiss, "Hashirama, shut up right now, and just tell her you hit your toe."

"But I can't tell her I hit my toe every night!"

"Daddy, that was you?" Aina's face was contorted into such a confused expression that both of her fathers would have found amusing under any other circumstance.

"Yes. Yes, it was."

"I don't get it. Why would you…? Hmm, is this a grown-up thing?"

Hashirama could hear Madara let out a quiet sigh at the lifeline they were given. "Yes," he said with more conviction than was necessary.

"All right." And with that proclamation, the topic was over. "I want to take a bath!"

He smiled. "I'll draw one for you then."

The three of them prepared for bed. Like usual, Hashirama tucked Aina in while Madara waited for him in their bedroom.

When Hashirama came back, he started kissing Madara, who returned it enthusiastically. Before he started caressing him, though, Madara pushed Hashirama away.

"I've decided to gag you tonight. You better not make a sound, you understand?"

Hashirama smiled. He would do anything his lover wanted, anyway.


End file.
